25,000 bottles of Angostura hand sanitiser for first responders

Angostura will not be part of attempts by any manufacturer to profit off consumers through price gouging on hand sanitiser as the country tries to protect itself from covid19. The company’s chairman Terrence Bharath said at a media conference on Friday, he has been inundated with requests from local hand sanitiser manufacturers who need alcohol for their product. Hand sanitisers are among the products being bought en masse by consumers desperate for germ-killers effective against coronavirus, and are almost impossible to find on shelves.

“Angostura will play absolutely no part in price gouging. We do not want people to come here and buy alcohol from us to make hand sanitiser to profit off the public and take advantage of unfortunate circumstances. If Angostura gets wind of any company that comes here to buy our precious alcohol to make hand sanitisers to profit from it, in a time where we are in desperation to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, we will not deal with you. We will not supply you one ounce of alcohol,” Bharath said. The company will try to deal with requests equitably but, he said, anybody who purchases from the company will have to sign a contract acknowledging that they will not use the opportunity for profiteering.”

Angostura makes its own alcohol from molasses and has been stockpiling as it upgrades its waste treatment plant. As such, stock is limited and the company needs to ensure its own supply to make its regular products.

The company is, however, redirecting some of that supply to alleviate the current hand sanitiser shortage, making 25,000 250 millilitre bottles of “spirit-based cleaning solution” that can be used to clean countertops, hard surfaces and hands. The bottles will be distributed – free of charge – starting next week, throughout the medical system and among the protective services and other first responders.

“We want to do our part to assist the population in combatting this virus,” Bharath said. The sanitisers meet the recommended World Health Organisation standards, containing 70 per cent ethanol (alcohol), hydrogen peroxide (a denaturing agent which makes the ethanol unfit for consumption), and glycerin (moisturiser).

“Please don’t drink this over ice,” Bharath cautioned. The blend takes about a day to produce and was created by Angostura’s all-female blending team, led by master blender, Carol Homer Caesar. The product has been tested in Angostura’s labs, as well as the Chemistry Food and Drug Division to ensure its safety and efficacy.